


If we only live once I wanna live with you

by percyyoulittleshit



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Pre The Last Olympian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23487322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyyoulittleshit/pseuds/percyyoulittleshit
Summary: July 12, 2009. Annabeth's sixteen birthday, a day she usually spends in the company of her friends and goofing around camp but this year the great prophecy is just around the corner and everybody at camp is busy with the upcoming war. Everybody except the only person Annabeth wanted to see that day, the boy with green eyes and counted days and who was currently in New York City with his loved ones.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 133





	If we only live once I wanna live with you

For the first time since her first birthday at camp, when she'd turned eight, there was no party for her.  She didn’t care, she wasn’t in the mood to celebrate anything anyway. Her siblings tried their best to celebrate her, from singing to her at her cabin after she came back from brushing her teeth, to extra-sugary treats during breakfast. Occasionally campers would stop by her to wish her a happy birthday, but the looming prophecy deadline was close and all the campers were running around creating battleplans, training or going on missions, and Annabeth was no exception. She had been in counselor meetings or working together with the Hephestus and Ares cabin, her day had been pretty full, enough to almost make her forget it was her birthday. But Annabeth’s treacherous heart couldn’t forget, not when it was haunted by green eyes, dark messy hair, and a troublemaker smirk that made her heart run marathons. 

Percy only had thirty-six days left and Annabeth wished her brain would stop reminding her of that. She wasn’t sure if Percy’s absence that day was a good thing or a bad thing. Percy had been staying in Manhattan between his missions. In theory, Annabeth got it; he wanted to forget his end was near, he wanted to spend more time with his mom, maybe even get to know his new step-father, maybe he was keeping an eye on Paul around his mom, or maybe he just wanted to be around his loved ones as much as possible. The thought of herself not being one of his loved ones caused her more pain than the thought of holding the sky again. Annabeth was a smart girl, she also knew Percy had been spending this time with his  _ mortal _ friend, the one with prettier curls, a carefree laugh, and open heart. The one who Percy wanted to spend his limited time with. In the end Annabeth couldn’t blame him, after all Luke had warned her over a year ago: nobody chose Annabeth Chase, everybody ended up leaving her, why would Percy be the exception? 

‘ _ You are my best friend _ ’ Percy had told her a few years ago and Annabeth’s heart had grown so much she wasn’t sure it could fit in her chest anymore. But now it was close to dinner time, the sun was about to set across the ocean, and she hadn’t seen or heard from Percy all day. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, she had welcomed those years with him by her side, with cupcakes and cookies and laughs and sneaking around camp with her best friend by her side, but now she was alone in her cabin working on strategies. So much for being  _ best friends _ . 

Annabeth felt hurt, and like throwing up, and torturing herself of thoughts of what Percy and Rachel were up to in the city. Maybe a picnic in central park? Or maybe a hand in hand walk around the Met? Would he even remember what day it was? Tears were starting to form when the door of her cabin opened up and Malcolm walked in.

“Hey,” he said, and Annabeth blinked a few times trying to make the tears go away. “It’s dinner time, come on birthday girl.”

“I’m not hungry,” Annabeth said from her desk, but Malcolm was having none of it. 

“Nuh-uh.” Malcolm started pulling her arm until she stood up. “A little bird told me we might have beef stew and we know you love it.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“You said that but you haven’t even smelled the food, did you even have lunch?” Malcolm raised an eyebrow at her and Annabeth gave up, her brother wasn’t afraid of bringing the rest of their siblings to help him carry her outside if needed. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time they had done that. 

If Annabeth hadn’t been sulking in her misery she would have realized that there was still activity around her: on the lake, on the lava wall even on the archery range. No one was getting ready for dinner time. When the pavilion was close Annabeth finally paid attention, almost all of the tables were empty except for the Athena one. All her siblings were standing around it bursting with excitement.

“What-?” Annabeth turned to look at Malcolm asking for an explanation but he only winked at her.

The moment she walked towards the table she was greeted by her siblings throwing confetti and glitter towards her. After they had tackled her into a group hug Annabeth could finally see what was on the table: cookies, cupcakes and a delicious looking cake. A knot formed in her throat and she tried her best to stop herself from crying.

“Sorry it’s so late,” a voice said next to her. A voice that had been haunting her mind all day. She slowly turned and there he was next to her. Percy shouldn’t be looking so hot, with his messy hair and mischievous eyes, smiling at her. Especially not when she was mad at him. “Mom made the cake and helped me with the cupcakes. But making sure the cupcakes and cake wouldn’t suffer an accident while Blackjack was flying took longer than anticipated.”

Annabeth wanted to tell him so many things, but what came out of her mouth was “You’re here.”

Percy looked confused. “Of course I’m here, it’s your birthday.” he quickly turned to look at her siblings, to see if they knew what was going on with her. Annabeth did the same but was greeted with all of them having matching grins, some of them even winked at her. Those assholes had planned this all along.

“It’s your birthday Annabeth,” Percy said again. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here earlier but I wouldn’t have missed this, you’re my best friend.” 

“You’re so dumb,” Annabeth said, but there was no bite in her words and her voice was shaky from the tears she was trying to hold back. She was overcome with affection and love towards this boy who she deeply loved. Without knowing what to do with whatever was going on with her feelings she decided to throw herself at Percy and wrap her arms around his neck. She could feel Percy take a step back from surprise but then his arms were around her waist and Annabeth’s tears finally started pouring. “Such a Seaweed Brain.” She said fondly again against his shoulder. 

“I know,” Percy said against her hair, and maybe it was Annabeth’s imagination but she swore she could feel his smile.

Annabeth could have spent the rest of the day like that but she heard a few quiet ‘ _ awwww _ ’s and she remembered they were surrounded by her siblings. She quickly broke apart from Percy and she hoped with the sun almost gone that they couldn’t see how much she was blushing. She cleared her throat and faced them. “So um, cake,” Annabeth said, making a few of her older siblings snort and shake their heads at her actions.

“You heard the birthday girl,” Josh, her oldest sibling, said. “It’s time to eat.”

Her siblings made their way around the table grabbing cookies and cupcakes but all Annabeth could focus was Percy standing next to her, so close their arms were almost touching. Her fingers flinched trying to hold back from touching his, would it be so bad if she held his hand? It would definitely not be the first time she did it. Before she could make up her mind Percy made the decision for her. He rested his hand gently against her arm grabbing her attention and Annabeth was hit with electricity from his touch. 

“Hey,” Percy whispered and Annabeth turned to face him. They were the same height now and his face was soft and open and so close Annabeth wasn’t sure how to breathe anymore. He leaned in and she didn’t have time to prepare herself for the feeling of his lips against the corner of her mouth. It was a quick kiss, one blink and it was gone. She looked at Percy with surprise but he only smiled gently at her. “Happy birthday Wise Girl.”

His hand left her arm and Annabeth suddenly felt cold in the summer air. “Come on, you still need to cut the cake.”


End file.
